Pronunciation of the words in the song.

Bonjour Gary,

It was a pleasure to listen to Edith Piaf singing, so thank you for your fascinating query.

If you were asking whether your French was correct, the word 'temps' doesn't work here, it should be 'fois', and I would say -

"J'aime comment elle peut rouler ses R deux fois ou plus avec le mot cruel "

I only hear 2 R's as she stretches the word ''cruel'' to fit the verse.

Linguistically speaking to pronounce the letter R in French, we use what's called a "uvular trill" or more commonly today, a "uvular fricative" - this is the distinctive French R sound that's produced at the back of the throat near the uvula, not with the tongue tip like the rolled R in Spanish or Italian.

The French R sound is often described as more of a "guttural" or "throaty" sound rather than a roll or trill. While it might sound similar to non-French speakers, it's linguistically quite different from the alveolar trill (tongue-tip roll) that characterizes languages like Spanish, Italian, or Russian.

Historically, some dialects of French did use a rolled R similar to Spanish, but this has largely disappeared in modern standard French. You might still hear it occasionally in very traditional rural dialects or certain regional varieties, but the uvular R is now the standard pronunciation taught and used throughout the French-speaking world.

So while French has a distinctive and prominent R sound, it's not what linguists would classify as a "rolled R" in the same category as Spanish or Italian.

Incidentally, I struggle to roll my R's in Spanish, and in my spoken Spanish, I sound very French!!!!

Bonne Continuation !